Why don’t people file for a refund for their residential property tax? Many people do not know that they can and there are inherent barriers preventing people from receiving the refunds that they deserve. In my last blog, I wrote about two of the barriers that prevent homeowners from filing for a property tax refund (a/k/a abatement) Eliminating-barriers-to-Residential-Property-Tax-Refunds. In this blog I will discuss two more barriers that the experienced professionals at Allobar Strategies will eliminate with the coming launch of RETaxRefund.com.

Barrier 3 – What do I need to support my application for a refund?

The third barrier to seeking a refund is not knowing what information is needed to support the application for a refund. The Municipal Application Package will provide the sales information of comparable properties that will provide the evidence that is needed to support the application for a refund. The professionals at Allobar Strategies decided to utilize technology to create an easy-to-use user interface which imports data from available sales information to provide comparable sales of properties to support the application for a refund. A quality appraisal performed by a licensed appraiser is the best based evidence to support an application for a refund. However, an appraisal is not required for the initial application for a refund, and often times the information on comparable properties may be sufficient for a municipality to grant a refund. If an appraisal is available it could be submitted with the application. If the municipality denies the application for a refund, then an appraisal may be needed to obtain a fair refund on appeal.

Barrier 3 - eliminated.

Barrier 4 – The cost to hire a professional to file an application for a refund is prohibitive.

Because many homeowners have never filed for a refund of their property taxes with their municipality, they are unfamiliar with the process. Additionally, there are deadlines and procedural traps that could result in the loss of a homeowner’s right to a refund if a mistake is made. For this reason, homeowners were forced to rely upon professionals whose fees often eat up any savings they would achieve from tax refunds obtained. RETaxRefund.com offers a Municipal Application Package for only $99.00 to apply for a refund at the municipal level. Once purchased, RETaxRefund.com’s municipal application package generates a completed application and a cover letter to send to your municipality. Because the professionals at RETaxRefund.com have used their decades of experience filing municipal property tax appeals to develop a technological solution to filing residential property tax appeals, homeowners do not need to be familiar with the archaic property tax appeal system in order to obtain a refund.

Therefore, the cost of filing an application for a refund is no longer prohibitive.

Barrier 4 eliminated.

By: John F. Hayes, LLM, General Counsel/Senior Tax Representative to Allobar Strategies and former general counsel to the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration

For more information on residential property tax abatement appeals in New Hampshire, please visit RETaxRefund.com.